Ferdinand André Fouqué facts for kids
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Ferdinand André Fouqué (born June 21, 1828 – died March 7, 1904) was an important French geologist and expert in rocks. He spent his life studying the Earth and its amazing features.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ferdinand Fouqué was born in a town called Mortain, in a region of France known as Manche. When he was 21, he joined a famous school in Paris called the École Normale Supérieure. From 1853 to 1858, he was in charge of the school's science collections.
In 1877, Fouqué became a professor of natural history at the Collège de France in Paris. This was a big achievement, as he took over from another famous scientist, Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville. In 1881, he was chosen to be a member of the Academy of Sciences, which is a very respected group of scientists in France.
Exploring Volcanoes and Rocks
Ferdinand Fouqué helped a lot with the Geological Survey of France, which maps out the Earth's layers. But he became especially interested in volcanoes and earthquakes. He also loved studying different minerals and rocks.
He was the first person in France to use modern methods to study rocks in detail. He even analyzed gases from volcanoes, using special techniques developed by another scientist named Robert Bunsen. He did a lot of this work on the Greek island of Santorini, which is famous for its volcanoes. One of his students, Alfred Lacroix, later married Fouqué's daughter.
Fouqué also studied volcanic rocks from places like Corsica and Santorini. He even tried to create volcanic rocks in his lab! He also wrote important papers about how to identify different types of feldspar minerals using light. He often worked with his good friend, Auguste Michel-Lévy, and they published many important works together.
Discoveries on Santorini
Fouqué is also famous for his amazing archaeological discoveries on the island of Santorini. He wasn't just a geologist; he also dug up ancient sites!
... Ten years before Schliemann, in 1862, during geological excavations, in that astonishing volcanic product, the island of Santorin (Thera), M. Fouqué had brought to light a whole civilisation buried beneath a layer of pumice-stone, due to an eruption supposed to have happened about 2000 B.C. He found walls coated with stucco, and painted with stripes and floral decorations, hand-made and wheel-made pottery; in short, the relics of a civilisation which we should now call 'Mycenæan.'
This means that in 1862, while digging for geological reasons, Fouqué found an entire ancient city buried under volcanic ash on Santorini. This was even before another famous archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, made his big discoveries! Fouqué found painted walls, pottery made by hand and on a wheel, and other signs of a civilization that we now call 'Mycenaean'. This was a huge discovery, showing that people lived there long before the volcano erupted around 2000 BC.
Key Publications
Ferdinand Fouqué wrote many important books and reports about his scientific work. Some of his most well-known publications include:
- Santorin et ses éruptions (1879): This book was all about the volcanoes and eruptions on Santorini.
- Minéralogie micrographique : roches éruptives françaises (1879): This book, written with Auguste Michel-Lévy, focused on French volcanic rocks.
- Synthèse des minéraux et des roches (1882): Also with Auguste Michel-Lévy, this book was about how minerals and rocks are formed.
In 1885, he also helped put together a report for the French government. This report looked into a big earthquake that happened in Andalusia, Spain, on December 25, 1884.
